Gear



J ly 8, A. s. VON SODEN-FRAUNHOFEN GEAR Filed Dec. 22. 1927 2 Sheets-Shoot 1 July 8, 1930. A. G. VON SODIEN-FRAUNHOFEN 1,770,132

cum 7 riled Doc. 22. 1921 2 Shoots-811g 2 Ira/en for:

Patented July 8, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALFRED GRAI VON SODEN-FRAUNHOFEN, OF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR 'I'O ZAHNRADFABRIK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT, 0F FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, IBODENSEE,

GERMANY GEAR Application filed December 22,

My invention relates to gears and more especially to gears having a unidirectional driving device, for example in the manner of a ratchet in connection with free wheel mechanisms. It has special reference to gears of this kind in which the oscillation of the working levers is caused by cams, eccentrics or the like. The primary object of my invention is greatest possible economy in the transmis- SlOIl gear.

Another object is to attain a speed of revolution in the driven shaft which corresponds to the direct drive or speed with c ange speed spur gearing.

A further object is the locking of the whole gear mechanism when the revolutions of the riven shaft approximate those of the driving shaft.

In gears of the kind described it is usual to have the cams or eccentrics fixed or stationary in relation to the revolving unidirectional driving devices, rectional driving cams or eccentrics.

According to my invention both elements are revolving, one of them in dependency of the driving the other in dependency of the driven shaf This has the advantage that device driven by rotating from the beginning of the rotation of the driven shaft that portion of the motor performance which corres onds to the momentary turning moment 0 the motor and to the revolutions of the driven shaft is transmitted directl from the motor to the driven shaft. Only t 0 remaining portion of the motor performance, which causes the increase in the turning moment'of the driven shaft, is transmitted by the unidirectional driving device. With increasing number of revolutions of the driven shaft the passin through the unidirectional devices is reduce automatically. When this portion reaches the value zero then direct transmission is going on.

If, for example, according to my invention the cams or eccentrics are connected to the driven shaft and the unidirectional driving devices are fastened to the fly wheel of the driving motor, then upon starting the revolutions a considerable number of oscillations or to have stationary unidibe advisable in certain portion of the performance plied tending to increase t e lift of t 1927, Serial No. 241,854, and in Germany January 3, 1927.

ing per second, but the time period of opera tion for one oscillation is constantly becoming longer. When the driven shaft has attained the same number of revolutions per second as the drivin shaft, so that the unidirectional driving fevices and the cams are revolving at equal speed, then direct transmission is reached.

For this purpose, according to my invention, it is necessary that the oscillating levers of the unidirectional driving devices and the cams or eccentrics are so chosen relatively to their number and length or lift, respectively, that the maximum 0 the revolutions of the driven shaft reaches the number of revolutions of the driving shaft, wherefore it may cases to insert a special transmission for example a couple of spur wheels of corresponding dimensions.

Furthermore, according to my invention I provide means for changin the lift of the cams or the eccentricity 0% the eccentrics whereby a further possibility of precise regulation is attained. For this purpose I bevel the cams in the direction of the shaft axis and make them slidable in this direction. With eccentrics the same may be done or their eccentricity may be made changeable in any other well known manner. This changing in the lift of the cams or the eccentricity of the eccentrics may be accomplished by means operated at will or automatically. In this latter case a weight re ulator ma be apl ie cams or the eccentricity of the eccentrics, whereas the reaction of the levers of the unidirectional driving devices acts in the opposite direction.

Last but not least, according to m invention, I provide a one way clutch or rake in connection with a fixed casing surrounding the gear or connected with some other stationary element. This clutch is adapted to connect or disconnect with the unidirectional driving device, directly or indirectly.

If in accordance with my invention, only the number of cams and unidirectional driving devices, the lift of the cams and the length of the levers of the devices, and possibly the ratio of a supplemental gear, are so chosen that the maximum of the revolutions of the driven shaft approximates the revolutions of the driving, but the unidirectional driving devices are not made to'rotate all the time, then this clutch should be operated to allow for rotation as soon as the number of revolutions of both shafts tend to become equal. Thereb in this case direct transmission is attaina le. This-clutch may also be made to operate automatically, for example like a free wheel mechanism.

The working of the corresponding one-way clutch or brake in the arrangement with constantly revolving cams and unidirectional driving devices will be explained together with the drawings.

Having given a general description of my invention I now want to point it out more in detail referring to the drawings representing an example embodying my invention.

Fig. 1 is .a combination cross section through the gear, whereof the lower left hand quarter is taken on line 'A A of Fig. 2, the upper half is taken on line BB and'the lower right hand quarterbn line CC, both ofFig-.2. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on line D 'centre -D 0f' Fig. 1.

The fly wheel of the .motor' (not shown) is designated bythe letter dff Shaft f is situated concentric with the flywheel d, and connected-to shaft f iscam'c. There are shaft f They'are supported" by the carshaft-s (1 are journaled.

ed against cam 0 by Revolutions of cam 'c cause oscillations four unidirectional driving .devices a arranged around the longitudinal centre line of rier casing e and the disc 2 in' which their "Levers 1 of the driving devices are press means ofsprings a fastened to pins or of levers a These oscillations are transformed into a unidirectional rotation by means of free wheel mechanisms a, which may fixed casing n.

be of any well'known' construction. There are spur wheels a 'fixed' on shafts a which mesh with spur wheel f loosely supported by the driven shaft f This shaft with one end is journaled on shaft f 'by'meansof bush f whereas its other end is supported in the roller bearing f. which is surrounded by the Shaft f may transmit the rotation to the'driving axle'of' an automobile for exa-mple. In this case a differential gear may beprovided which is indicated by'the letter 9; and which may serve for reversing.

In the example represented the outer shape of cam 0 shows an inclination in the axial di rection and also the cam can be shifted in this direction. This arrangement allows for varying the oscillating movement of levers a befcause shifting of cam 0 means changing its li t.

Means are provided for causing automatic shifting of cam c. There are levers i situated inside of the fly wheel d-to which weights i are fastened adapted to cause levers i to swing to the right hand side because of centrifugal forces. Thereby cam c is shifted in the direction of the arrow (to the right hand side) so that the increased shape of the cam portion corresponding to and cooperating with levers a causes an increase in their oscillating movement.

Besides there may be provided a lever Z allowing for shifting cam c at will by means of slip ring 1,, transmitting rod Z inside of shafts f and f and of cross bar 1 connecting to cam c.

The gear will work in the following man Then a beginning of rotation of fly wheel (1 will cause revolutions of spur wheel f by means of cams a, unidirectional driving devices a and spur wheel a the speed of these revolutions relative to the rotation of the fiy wheel depending on the number of cams, their longitudinal position on the shaft, the number of unidirectional driving devices, the length of their levers and on the ratio of transmission between the two 5 ur wheels. The rotation of spur wheel f in direction will be reverse to' the direction of the fly wheel. But if wheel f is arrested and easing e is free to revolve then casing e together with shaft i will rotate and wheel a will transmit the reaction to fixed wheel f For this purpose this wheel f in the example represented, is connected to outer casing n which is stationary. This connection however is made disconnectible because of further below. The connecting element .0, constitutes a free wheel mechanism.

This whole arrangement has the advantage that the speed of rotation of the revolving cams relatively to the revolving unidirectional driving devices decreases with increasing velocity of the driven shaft, so that the oscillations of the levers a are constantly lessening in number per time unit. They are coming to zero when the numbers of revolutions of both shafts equal each other. The levers of the unidirectional driving devices will work slower and slower until they come to a stand still. Then the reaction on wheel f reasons explained shall be free to revolve.

also will become zero and it tends to rotate make this possible the above mentioned free wheel mechanism is provided, for which a disconnectible clutch or the like may be substituted in case it is not intended to provide 5 forlautomatic operation but for operation at m I do not want to be limited to the details described or shown in the drawin s as many variations will occur to those ski led in the art.

What I claim is: a

A gear comprising a driving shaft and a driven shaft substantially in alignment with and abutting each other; a number of cams connected to said drivin shaft; a carrier casing connected to said driven shaft; a number of unidirectional driving devices mounted in said casing; said devices comprising levers adapted to be oscillated by said cams; spur 10 wheels rigidly fixed to the driven parts of said unidirectional driving devices and constituting a system of planetary wheels situated around the axis of said driving. and driven shafts; a stationar part; a sun wheel as loosely mounted on said r1ven shaft; and a free wheel mechanism situated between said stationary part and said sun wheel; said mechanism being adapted to lock said sun wheel in the direction reverse to the turning 80 direction of said driven shaft but to give its rotation free in the turning direction of said driven shaft.

ALFRED GRAI" v. SODEN-FRAUNI'IOFEN. 

